I'm With You

Chapter 9

Chapter 9 (started 10/25/2017)

Time had seemed to fly by and before anyone knew it T.O.U.C.H's new album was finished and all the ins and outs about the upcoming T.O.U.C.H. and Eva world tour were settled.  Everyone was aflutter, excited for traveling and performing whilst Nicole was anxious.  Luke invited her to come along but other than England she had never left home or traveled anywhere, especially with the store being so new she didn't think it would be possible.  However, Luke and the others insisted and seeing Cassandra had apologized for her actions in front of everyone, Nicole thought maybe things wouldn't be so bad after all.

"So, I've got to go to the gym but afterwards i'll meet you before you meet with the stylist for the show?" Luke asked tossing his towel onto the nearby rocking chair while he slid into some boxers and a pair of gray joggers.  Nicole smiled biting her bottom lip as her eyes lingered, enjoying every second before the two would be separate for the next several hours.

Flossy Gurlz was going to be holding a fashion show at Holden Academy for upcoming designers, they held the show every year and some very high end designers and department stores would be there to pick out who they wanted to stock their shelves for the upcoming year.  Nicole was never one for competition or catwalks but she figured it would be nice to get her mind off trivial things and to try mend fences with Cassandra seeing she was the very person who suggested the show.  She kept how it would be nice publicity but Nicole was never interested in all the glitz she just wanted girls and women to enjoy wearing her brand and be comfortable.

So far she had all the looks put together she only needed to work on the final touches with accessories and find models to walk the runway.  She knew she was going outside of the box when she decided not to go with the modeling agency Cassandra offered but Nicole knew her vision and what she was looking for and she wanted everyday people to model her clothes seeing as those were the people she wanted being her clothes.

And after posting about it online she was hoping for a good turn out; however, she didn't know there would be so many women lined up when the cab pulled up in front of the building.  The line itself was spewing out of the doors and all the way around the front and right side of the building, and when she walked up everyone smiled and called out hoping for her to notice them and pick them on the spot.

"Well, looks like you've got a long day ahead of you," the projects director, Maude Vernon, exclaimed with a gleam in her eyes.  She was elderly and sometimes had a no nonsense quality about her but she was always nice and seemed to take a real likely to Nicole saying that she worked hard and had real potential.

"Yeah, it looks that way."

"Whenever you're ready I'll send the first set of girls in."

"Sounds good to me."

For hours Nicole met tons of aspiring models and actresses who were looking for a big break and who just needed a chance but the only ones that stuck out to Nicole are ones that reminded her or herself.  Women needing a fresh start, just trying to get by and ones that were proud of their bodies and making a confident statement instead of just wanting to look good and be famous.

After the last audition, Nicole smiled down at her final picks and felt good about the upcoming show and actually going through with it.  So she went ahead and called those that she chose and told them the time and place of the show and to be there an hour ahead of time so that they could rehearse their walk in the clothes and get hair and makeup done.  Luke came in just behind her placing one his arms around each side of her on the table, he smelled of sweat and cologne.